When the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council met in September to discuss the use of International Financial Reporting Standards, they found themselves answering questions with questions.FASAC, which advises the Financial Accounting Standards Board on a variety of issues, had been given the task of providing perspectives on where accounting and financial reporting might be going over the next two or three decades - with special consideration of the role of IFRS.

After a summer of discussions, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is expected to release as many as 10 documents by the end of the year or early in 2008.Susan Bielstein, FASB director of major projects and technical activities, said that the board had shown strong progress this year, especially with the completion of a business combination standard that it wrote jointly with the International Accounting Standards Board. It was the first joint standard the boards have produced, and it's expected to be released in mid-October. "It was a real milestone in the convergence process," Bielstein said.

The Internal Revenue Service has softened its opposition to contingent fees charged by Circular 230 practitioners. Originally, the IRS proposed permitting a contingent fee only in connection with an IRS examination or the challenge of an original return, or an amended return filed before a notice of examination was received.Under the final rules, a tax practitioner will be allowed to charge a contingent fee for services rendered in connection with the IRS examination of, or challenge to, an original return, or an amended return or claim for refund or credit where it was filed within 120 days of the taxpayer receiving a written notice of the examination, or a written challenge to the original return.

Dell filed its past-due financial reports from fiscal 2003 through 2006 and the first quarter of fiscal 2007, while shedding light on some of the accounting missteps that led to its financial restatements and delays.

Many firms conduct surveys and issue releases summarizing them hoping for the maximum press coverage. Grant Thornton is one of the “best” at it.

Fitch Ratings has released a report on the recent disruptions in the credit market and the effect of two new accounting standards.

A majority of CFOs and senior comptrollers do not agree with proposals to allow companies to file financial statements in International Financial Reporting Standards instead of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, according to a newly released survey by accounting firm Grant Thornton.